Fuel-feeding device



Patented Apr. 27, 1926.

UNIT En sat-#Ares Y PATENT offlfFIiGE.

@ AY LIDL-IE, OF: CHICAGO,l ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-'HALF' TO THEINVINCIBLE,

:BLOW IIPE CO., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFYILLINO'IS,

`rnnnfrnnnruver, DEVICE..

application medlaprn 25, i921. serial No.. 464,302.

T0 all' whomc't may concern:

Be it known that I, `RAY LiLLiE, a lcitizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook. andState of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fuel-'Feeding Devices,of which the following is a spec-ication.

Thisv invention relates to improvement-s in fuel feedingdevices.

An object oflthe invention is to automatically control fuel conveyed tofurnaces of a boiler by variation of steam pressure therein, to=therebymaintain substantially cons stant pressure. y

Another object is to automatically control fuelfconveyed to .thefurnaceof a boiler and coincidentally l to` control the air required toA aidcombustionrof theV fuel fed to the boiler, thelfeedingofair and fuelbeing controlledjby variation of ,pressurein the boiler.

Other, further` and more specific objects of theinvention will becomereadily .apparent,`to persons skilledin the art, from a considerationofA the following description when taken in conjunction with thedrawings, wherein Fig, ,1 shows in Iside elevation a .schematicarrangement ofthe severaldevices'for the purpose of carrying myinvention into effect.

Fig, 2fshowsaffront elevation of a furnace with vthe invention appliedthereto, parts being broken away. n

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged end view of the conveyor, and the operatingmechanism therefor.

Fig. 4 is a section thru the diaphragm device which is responsive topressure.

In all the views the same reference cliaraoters are employed to indicatesimilar parts.

In the structure chosen to disclose the invention 5 represents a boiler,6 the furnace door therefor, and 7 is the ash door. 8 represents theboiler setting. v

A fuel conveyor 9 is rotatable by any suitable means in a pipe 10. Theshaft 9 of the conveyor 9 has a. bearing in the closed end 11 of thepipe and projects therebeyond. A pipe 12 is connected to the pipe.1O andleads downwardly to the bottoni of the furnace door 6. Shavings andother dbris about a. factory may thus be conveyed from n remote pointsby the operation of the conveyor 9', thru the pipe 12, into the furnace.In order that combustion may properly be promoted I provide a fan 13drive-n by an electric motor 14 and havingVa-,pipe' 15 com-Y municatingwith a .nozzle 16 which opens into the: fire box through the bottomoffthe door 6, as at 17, so 'that airisfthereby. forced into thefurnaceunder thebottom ofthe incoming fuel which passes thereinto thruthe pipe- 12. The electric motor 14 also drives a speed reducing device18, which, in the particular illustration, consists of a worm and wormwheel, not shown, buty enclosed within the casing and vhaving ,-a shaft19 to whichl a crank pin 20 is connected.V

An army 21 is oscillatableupon the outer end of the shaft 9 and isconnected by a link 22 to the crank pinv20.v When the shaft 19 visrotated thev arm 21, which is pivotally supported on the shaft 9, isoscillated The arm 21 carriesa pawl23 held against the teeth'of aratchet wheel 24 byi-a spring 25. The wheel 24 is fiXedto theconveyorsha- 9 so that when thearm 21 is oscillated the pawl 23 willrengagetheteeth on the wheel 24 and intermittentlyrotate the shaft andtherewith the conveyor; 9. Another arm 26 is pivoted on-the lshaftft)outsideof-'the wheel 24v and this arm` 26`carries a curvedshield 2'2",which may be interposed between the wheel 24- andthe pawl'` 23-to liftthe pawl from thel'w-heel, and to prevent the pawl `from*yhavingfcontact with the wheelv during part of' itsentire stroke;l Y

Y The arm 26 is connected by a link 28 to the arm 29 of the bell crankthat is pivoted at 30. The other arm 31, of the bell crank, is pivotedto a. vertical rod 32, and this rod is connected toa pressure responsivediaphragm 33 inside of the casing 34.

The casing 34 is connected by a pipe 35 to the steam space in the boilerwith which the device is associated. The arm 26 is also connected by alink 36 to a flap valve 37 which is lpivoted, as at 38, and which willclose an opening 39 in the air pipe 40, when the flap is in properposition. The operation of the device is as follows:

The arm 21 is oscillated a given uniform distance by a revolution of thecrank pin 2O on the shaft 19 at each revolution of the shaft. As the arm21 is moved to the rrght the pawl 23 will engage the teeth on the 105engaging the teeth of wheel 24 until the pawl rides off the end of theshield. The position of the shield 27 is determined by the pressure in:Ythe boiler. When the pressure is high the arm 3l of the bell cranlr israised and the link 28, which is conf nected to the arm 26, is movedoutwardly of the boiler, thereby causing the shield 27 to be introducedbetween the pawl 23 and the wheel 24 giving the pawl a shorter'opertivestroke and causing the conveyor 9 to be rotated accordingly.

It is, of course, manifest that the slower the speed of the conveyor theless amount of fuel it will move in a given time and that the positionof the shield controls the extent of movement of the conveyor at eachoscillation of the arm 26 in response to variations of steam pressure ofthe boiler.

As the steam pressure rises above a predetermined point a smallerquantity of fuel is therefore fed into the boiler, in the mannerheretofore described, and less air is passed into the furnace becausethe fiap 3,7 is opened bythe same movement of the arm 26 that shortensthe effective stroke of the pawl. When the steam goes down the diaphragm33 will go down and cause the arm 31 to be depressed and producearearward movement of the arm 29 of the bell crank, thereby moving backto its original position the oscillating arm 2G which has the eect toretract the shield 27 giving the pawl a longer stroke, and causing morefuel to be fed into the boiler at a given time; at the same time theflap valve 37 is closed causing a full quantity of air to be passed thruthe pipe 15 into the boiler, and therefore the quantity of air isallowed to be forced into the furnace or boiler to support combustion ofthe fuel fed therein by the means heretofore described.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. An apparatus Yfor feeding fuel to a boiler furnace to maintainsubstantially constant pressure in the boiler comprising a fuelconveyor, a pipe connecting the conveyor and furnace and through whichthe fuel is moved by effect of gravity,'means to intermittently move theconveyor, substantially constant speed air compressing means, a conduitleading directly from said air compressing means to said furnaceterminating below said pipe, means responsive to the pressure in theboiler, arranged coinci dently to control the movement of the conveyorand to vary the air supply as the fuel and air are fed to the furnace.

2. A device of the character described comprising a fuel conveyor, afurnace, a pipe leading from the conveyor to the furnace through whichfuel is moved by the effect of gravity, an air fan driven atsubstantially constant speed, a pipe leading from the fan directly tothe furnace, means to actuate the conveyor operable by the vfan drivingmechanism, a boiler, a valve inthe f air pipe, a device responsive topressure in the boiler and arranged simultaneously to control the extentof movement of the con` veyor by said actuating means andthe extent ofopening of said air valve to Yvary coordinately the fuel and the airsupplied to the boiler.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribed my name.

RAY LILLIE.

